It wouldn't have been an unusual scene except for the setting. Instead of victory lane, Busch was in the center of a makeshift paintball arena bordered by rusty school buses and filled with neatly-stacked tires and clusters of barrels.

Busch's latest win was even sweeter given his opponents: A team made up of NASCAR media members, representative of his occasional critics.

Was Busch fulfilling a dream by taking free shots at reporters?

"Duh!" he said with a grin. "Paintball is the safest way to do it."

Firing at the news media seemed to be a good way to take out any lingering frustration Busch might have from losing points to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and leader Matt Kenseth in the first two weeks of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup — a deficit which has only increased despite Busch enjoying one of the best playoff starts NASCAR has seen.

Now, Busch, can't afford to let any opportunities slip away by his own doing. It's time to show he's mentally strong enough to win his first championship in NASCAR's elite series.

Nine seasons of experience might help him stay focused. In 2011, Busch learned even a solid start to the Chase doesn't mean much.

That season, he was fourth in points halfway through the Chase and in decent position to stay in championship contention. Then he crashed the next two weeks — at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway — and all hope was lost.

The lesson?

"There's still too much racing to go and anything can happen," Busch said. "... We're not that far down the road yet."

That's the kind of attitude and approach which will serve Busch well. But if he loses his cool or gets frustrated at Kenseth's consistently strong runs, it could open the door for his teammate to run away with the championship Busch so badly craves.

Only four drivers have started the Chase better than Busch has this year. Unfortunately for him, one of them is Kenseth; Busch has finished second in each of the first two races while Kenseth has finished first.

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Now Busch is 14 points behind Kenseth for the Chase lead — worth 14 positions on the track — entering Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway. Last year, Jimmie Johnson finished second in the first two Chase races and came to Dover as the points leader. But Brad Keselowski won the race and went on to win his first title despite Johnson notching two wins late.

Busch acknowledged being "mad because we finished second two straight weeks to the same guy," but insisted it was far too early to focus on the standings.

The only reason he even knew about being 14 points behind, he said, is because reporters mentioned it while asking him questions.

"I feel like if I could finish second in every single Chase race, I could win the championship doing that," he said. "I'd take winning the championship over winning a Chase race any day of the week. I'm not too worried about that — yet."

But "yet" seems to be the key word for a driver known to hate finishing second more than doing an extended sit-down interview with his paintball foes. To Busch, second place is about as easy to digest as eating a bowl of lugnuts for breakfast.

In some ways, Busch is the closest thing NASCAR has to Talladega Nights character Ricky Bobby's philosophy: "If you ain't first, you're last."

So how long can the sometimes mercurial Busch really put up with finishing behind his teammate or being second in the points standings — even if it marks his best Chase start?

The answer to that question might determine whether Busch stays in contention until the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, Kenseth told reporters "everybody in the garage knows there's not a driver more talented than Kyle."

But Busch has yet to win a Cup championship, so it must not be all about talent. At 28, Busch is more cognizant of that fact.

"(Driving talent) is only a part of the sport," Busch said. "You can be as good as you can be behind the wheel physically, but you've also got to be there mentally."